Sea Horse tank Suggestions

Hello,
My wife has always wanted sea horses, we currently have a 90 gallon reef tank, that is doing great and has been up for about a year. I know, sea horses really need there own tank so I was thinking about setting up a small cube tank. I was just curious on your guys suggestions. The best Breeds of horses, best size of tank, what to have in the tank(live rock, coral, plants, etc.
Thanks Spencer

The best way to start for the seahorse keeping idea is to forget "small" unless you want dwarfs. For most seahorses commonly sold in the hobby the minimum tanks size is 29g for a pair and an extra 15g for each additional pair.
Next, read the links at the bottom of the "My Thoughts...." link in my signature. Those links will provide you will basic starter knowledge and then if you need more information you can go from there and ask specific questions.

Now if only EVERY one would do that there would be fewer seahorses lost!

I wanted seahorses so bad, I researched for a long time. When I finally got them I knew it was worth it! I got Dwarf Seahorses, although they are hardy and can live in very small (2gallon) tanks they have to be fed live brine shrimp daily-which gets annoying.

I have a 150 gallon FOWLR tank for 8 months with a very well-stocked fish population and 2250 gph of water flow. I saw seashorse at my LFS the other day and was awed and "intrigued" by the possibility. But after reading some posts in the forum here I guess that is not going to be a good idea. Thanks for the info!

There are a lot of factors making seahorse keeping more difficult than other salt water tanks.
First, the quality of seahorses sold by the stores is mostly a crapshoot unless they get true captive bred stock from seahorsesource.com or seahorsecorral.com.
Even with good stock you have no guarantee of success.
Seahorses have problems with exposure to pathogens that they haven't been raised with so it's best to keep a species only tank with livestock from the same breeding source.
Seahorses are "messy" eaters. They only select certain pieces of food they like the looks of and they leave the rest. Also, when they snick food, they masticate the food, passing cloudy particulate matter out the gills.
This necessitates more frequent and larger water changes, and removal of uneaten food before nasty bacteria cultures expand to the point the seahorses are affected. Keeping temperatures between 68° and 74°F can help.
Because of their problems, the recommended tank size is 29g for one pair of standard sized seahorses, with an additional 15g for each additional pair of standard sized seahorses.
If you push the limits a little and go a bit smaller you have to maintain even better husbandry with even more frequent water changes.
Many times, seahorses develop problems and there is no physical sign to indicate what the problem is, leading to death because you don't know how to treat it.
Some afflictions that affect seahorses require medications requiring a vet to prescribe and often keepers have problems finding a vet that will prescribe for seahorses.
That's for starters anyway.

I had always loved saltwater tanks and seahorses. I had kept freash water for many years when I decided to try a reef tank. That lead me to believe I could try seahorses. After a year I have not found them any more difficult than any of my other tanks. I do agree that learning was the key.
Thanks for your thoughts.

i just started my first saltwater tank, 55 gal. FOWLR, and would really like to have seahorses, should i get some other type of more hardy marine fish first though?(my tank is still cycling right now) i also like ocellaris clownfish, can these be kept with seahorses, or would it stress the sea horse to much?

First of all, don't put ANY fish in until your tank appears to be cycled, and, you add some ammonia and test to see how long it takes to clear.
If this tank is to be for seahorses, I don't recommend you put anything else in the tank, especially clown fish. Very few clown fish would work out with seahorses although occasionally it has been done. It's not worth the risk.
If you read the links at the bottom of "MY THOUGHTS...." linked in my signature you will find a page on the "org" that lists threat ratio's for tank mates for seahorses.
A 55g could house 6 standard sized seahorses (recommended size for 6 is 60g), especially if it has a sump as well.
Even if you choose a fish with a "0" threat level, you still stand the chance of that fish introducing pathogens that the seahorse is unable to deal with and might perish.
Mixing species of syngnathids is NOT recommended unless they all come from the same breeding facility.
If you are in the US, the best place to get TRUE captive bred seahorses is seahorsesource.com.

okay thank you! since this is my first saltwater tank should i wait on the seahorses, until i have had more experience in saltwater, and until my tank is more mature? i am going to wait a couple weeks even after my tank is cycled to add anything.

That's hard to say because some experienced reefers have problems keeping seahorses alive, while there are successful seahorse keepers that never had salt water before. I'd probably give the edge to experience, but that can also present other problems if you are going to put something else in the tank in the meantime.
By stocking the tank with other fish/inverts, you risk transferring pathogens from them to the seahorses once you remove them and put seahorses in that same tank. You could however, start another tank in addition to the first and keep that one just for seahorses.

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